Anything You Can Do
by HeidiBug731
Summary: When her father told her to beat Scorpius Malfoy on every test, Rose Weasley took his words to heart. But five years later things have gone to the next level as Rose attempts to break into the Slytherin Common Room and asks herself why she cares so much. Written post DH.
1. The Contest

He could still remember her face from the first time they'd met. Freckles dotted her flushed cheeks, overly round from baby fat that had yet to fade. Her blue eyes were shinning under disheveled red hair.

"What did you get?" she insisted as she finally reached him. Class had just ended, and she sounded a little out of breath from pushing her way through the groups of first-year Gyffindors and Slytherins. Her smile was wide, like they were discussing what they had received for Christmas.

"Sorry?" he said. Half of him was unsure her question was directed at him. He was surrounded by Slytherins after all, and he had never before spoken with this girl.

"What did you get?" she asked again. He noticed she was clutching her potions essay to her chest. It was the first of the year and their professor had just handed them back with their scores.

"Er…" He had to think about it. "An 'E.'"

Her smile grew even wider, displaying all her front teeth. She proudly held out her essay so he could see the "O" written in red ink. "I beat you!" she squeaked and, apparently satisfied, ran back to her friends.

And so it was from that day on in every class they had together. Rose Weasley would run toward him clutching their newly returned assignment in her hand.

Her face had changed over the years, he noted. The baby fat had faded away to reveal the long slender structure of her face, her freckles thus falling closer to her nose instead of over her cheeks. Her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail, revealing the full shine of excitement in her eyes.

He turned from her, feigning a desire to hurry from the room. He had grown accustomed to their meetings, and this one he knew for sure he'd enjoy. His friends, however, had quickly grown annoyed with "that Weasley girl" and had no intention of sticking around. He had tried escaping with them a handful times in their first year, but Rose would find him later, perhaps in the dining hall, and insist on knowing his grade. He didn't mind, to be honest. There was some fun to this contest of theirs.

"Oh, no, you don't," she said, grabbing his arm as he lagged behind his group of friends. She turned him to face her. "Show me what you got."

His friends hurried along down the hall, but Scorpius didn't think about them as he unrolled his scroll, grinning as he did so, to show an "O."

The excitement faded from her eyes slightly, but her smile remained unchanged as she displayed a similar grade on her paper.

Scorpius rolled his scroll back up. "You're slacking, Weasley."

She laughed. "Come on, Malfoy. I can't go higher than the top of the grade scale!"

"You never know," he said. "Smartest witch in the school, they might make a new scale just for you."

She put her essay into her shoulder bag. "You're just jealous that in five years you have yet to beat me."

"I can't go higher than the top of the grade scale," he parroted.

She scoffed, "You think you actually did better than me?"

He shrugged. He liked giving her a hard time. Her face shifted through so many expressions, her mouth and eyebrows twisting one direction and then the other. "Who's to say?"

"We could ask Professor Flittwick."

He grabbed her arm as she started to leave. "You're that insecure about your grade that you have to go to Flittwick to verify?"

She fixed him with a confident look. "Anything you can do, Malfoy, I can do better."

"No you can't." It was an automatic answer.

"I think I've done pretty well so far."

She had him there. "You can't beat me at being Slytherin." It was, quite honestly, the only thing he could think of that she wasn't better at him at.

She blinked. "Are you serious?"

"I am."

"That's not relevant."

"Of course it is. You can't beat me at being Slytherin."

She crossed her arms. "Well you can't beat me at being Gryffindor."

"Doesn't matter." He relished the soft distress on her face. "I still beat you at something."

She leaned closer to him, cool confidence returned. "I could be Slytherin if I tried." She smiled. "Could you be Gryffindor?"

"Of course," he said. He didn't have a choice to say otherwise.

"Prove it."

"You first," he insisted. "It makes sense. You arguing that you're a better Gyffindor than me doesn't change anything because, as you say, you are always better than me. But me saying I'm a better Slytherin, that changes things."

"Fine." It was the first time he'd ever seen her look unsure. "What do I have to do?"

"Break into the Slytherin Common Room." It was the first thing that popped into his head.

"What?"

"Slytherins are sly and cunning," he explained. "Get into the Slytherin Common Room without anyone realizing who you are, and I'll concede that you could be a Slytherin. I will be in the common room every evening from dinner until curfew."

"How long do I have?"

"Two weeks."

"Done."

As she turned and walked away from him, he found himself every bit as confused about the nature of their relationship as ever. Were they enemies? Rivals? Friends?

Their playful manner at the beginning of the conversation would have had a stranger imagining them as close. Yet the conversation had downgraded from there. For the millionth time since coming to Hogwarts, he asked himself what she wanted from him. Was this just a childish contest? Or something else?

It was awkward, as always, to face his friends when he rejoined them. He wondered if Rose had to face a similar awkwardness; her friends were never with her when she came up to him. He wondered if she was also repeatedly asked why they "hung around" each other.

"I don't hang around her," he'd often replied. "She accosts me after class."

He could give them no better answer.


	2. The Slytherin

Not for the first time since her meeting with Scorpius, Rose found herself wondering just what she had been thinking. Breaking into the Slytherin Common Room was an absolutely ridiculous notion, and she couldn't believe she would have ever agreed to it. And every time she tried convincing herself that technically she wasn't "breaking into" the Slytherin Common Room, she had to remind herself that, yes, that was exactly what she was doing.

She thought of going to Scorpius a number of times and calling the whole thing off. But that would mean having to look at his smug, pointed face as he proclaimed that he had beaten her at something - even at something as ridiculous at getting into a different house than her.

No. She couldn't that. She couldn't back down. But then she started to wonder exactly why she couldn't. Her grades were at stake. As was her standing with her professors; what would they think of her after she broken into the Slytherin Common Room? And what about Gryffindor house points? Or her enrollment in the school? Could she be expelled for such a thing?

She tried to tell herself that she had been "invited" into the Slytherin Common Room. But that wasn't exactly the case. If she got in trouble, if she was accused of breaking in, would Scorpius stand up for her? She didn't exactly know him. They weren't really even friends. Could this be just some Slytherin trick?

But Scorpius knew she was a Prefect. He knew she could traverse the halls at night without fear of getting in trouble for it. And if he had wanted her to risk it, then why would he have challenged her to meet him before curfew?

No, Scorpius wasn't out to get her in trouble, she was sure of it . . . at least, she thought so.

She agonized over the situation for three whole days before realizing she had wasted a significant portion of her two week deadline and still had no idea as to where the Slytherin Common Room was or how to get into it.

Luckily, her position as a Prefect allowed her to follow students and explore areas of the castle without arousing much suspicion. Three days before the deadline she had discovered the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room, knew the password, had crafted an alibi, and had gathered robes from the laundry.

Her biggest fear was that the password might have changed. She had made sure the night before that the password was still correct, but if it had been changed since then she had no way of knowing. If she was wrong, she wasn't sure she could craft another alibi in time. And even if she could, she didn't want to go through the hassle of all of this again.

"Mandy?" she asked her dorm mate and fellow Prefect, "would you mind escorting the Gryffindors up to the tower?"

"No problem. Is everything all right?"

"I just don't feel very good," she made a mad dash out the door toward the first floor bathrooms.

Amanda was a good friend. Rose knew if she didn't show up in time for curfew that Mandy would cover her shift. Rose hated lying to her, but maybe this would be a story they would laugh about later.

Rose reached for the bag she had concealed behind one of the toilets and pulled out the robes she had borrowed from the laundry. They were a couple sizes larger than her own, which would help hide her figure, thereby creating less of a chance for her to be recognized. She had also found a large sized wizard's hat that she used to tuck her hair up into.

The only thing left that could give her away were her freckles. She wished she knew a charm that could lighten their color, but there were other ways. Amanda, being muggle born, had all sorts of odd things. Rose had borrowed her facial powder for this exact purpose.

After making sure her freckles were concealed as best they could be and that her hair wasn't sticking out of the hat, Rose stuffed her own properly sized robes into the bag and stashed it back behind the toilet. Then she left the bathroom and headed for the dungeons. Her costuming process had passed enough time to clear the hallway of students.

She hurried down the passageways, wanting to get things over and done with as quickly as possible. Besides, the faster she moved, the less time anyone had to get a good look at her. She passed a few students along the way, but they didn't seem to pay her much attention, except perhaps to wonder why she was in such a big hurry. She held onto her hat, just in case.

She nearly missed the stone wall in her haste to get there, but she'd spent enough time following students to know it was the right section. She just hoped the password hadn't changed.

"Phineas Nigellus!" she said.

* * *

><p>Scorpius sat in one of the high-backed chairs in front of the fireplace. His friend Thomas dropped in the seat next to him with a sigh.<p>

"You patrolling tonight?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah, I am. Why?"

Thomas sighed again and stretched out the scroll in his hand. "I was hoping you could help me with my Transfiguration essay. I need six more stupid inches."

"I can help when I get back," Scorpius offered.

"I'll be here," Thomas groaned.

"You can ask Trisha," Scorpius suggested. "She's pretty good at Transfiguration."

"Not as good as you."

Scorpius smiled. "No one's as good as me." Except perhaps Rose Weasley. Thank goodness they had miraculously never managed to have that class together.

Scorpius gazed at the fireplace. He was beginning to think Rose wasn't going take him up on his challenge, which disappointed him. Somehow, he felt that if he beat her, he also lost. Would they continue to meet at the end of class after an assignment if he proved he could win? If not, would he ever get the chance to talk to her at all?

Thomas groaned again, pulling Scorpius from his thoughts. "I just don't get this class."

"Last year you have to take it," Scorpius tried to encourage him.

"No." Thomas put his head in his hands. "I need it for my career field." He rubbed his eyes, sighing. He paused as he gazed through his fingers. Then he lowered his hands. "Who the hell is that?"

Scorpius turned in his chair. Standing near the entrance way was a student Scorpius had never seen before. Whoever it was, they definitely weren't a first-year, but they looked nearly as awkward and unsure as one. Their robes were one or two sizes too big for them, and their hair was covered by a hat that was also too large. It was almost like they were trying to hide something.

Scorpius rose from his chair. "Who on Earth . . ?" And then it hit him. A grin broke across his face. He couldn't believe it.

Scorpius rushed to Rose's side as other Slytherins began to take an interested in the strange student. Scorpius grabbed her arm and hurried her through the wall. "This way," he said as he pulled her down a passageway.

He unlocked a storage cupboard and pulled her inside where he finally let lose a roaring laugh. "Oh, that was bloody brilliant, Rose!" He would have punched the air had he not been afraid of accidently hitting her from the lack of room. "I didn't even recognize you!"

He couldn't see her in the dark of the room; his eyes hadn't adjusted. But he could hear her soft laughter. "That was the scariest thing I've ever had to do," she said.

He was grinning broadly at her, and he realized she couldn't see it. "I'm seriously impressed," he admitted.

"Well," she said, "It's your turn next."

"Oh, right." He had forgotten. If he was honest with himself, he wasn't looking forward to it. "What do I have to do?"

"I did the sly and cunning. Now you have to do the brave and daring. Get into Gryffindor Tower as yourself. No disguises."

He nearly protested but stopped the words just in time. "All right," he said.

"Then I'll see you sometime in the next two weeks." A crack of light appeared and he realized she had opened the door a little. The smallest bit of light touched her mouth, nose, and eyes. "I don't think anyone followed us."

"Are you sure? I'd hate for you to get in trouble."

A smile spread across her face. "I'll be fine." She opened the door wide. Her hat had fallen from her head, freeing her hair and allowing it to fall haphazardly across her shoulders. He didn't think she'd ever looked more beautiful. "See you on patrol?"

It was a ridiculous question. The House Prefects all kept to their own areas. They didn't mingle with each other. Even so, implying that she wanted to see him again was a nice gesture.

"Sure," he said. He was still smiling but for reasons that had nothing to do with the events of the night and everything to do with the fact that she was standing across from him.

And then she was gone, running back up the passageway. Scorpius closed the door to the closet, shutting himself inside. He sat down on the floor and brought a hand to his face.

What was he going to do? He understood the emotions he was feeling, and he knew better than to pretend to himself that he didn't. How could he possibly have developed feelings for a Gryffindor? And not just any Gryffindor, but a Weasley? Worse still, this girl was a particularly charming and beautiful Rose Weasley who might not even like him back.


	3. The Mediator

"I hear you broke into the Slytherin Common Room."

Rose jumped and turned her face to look up at her cousin. "Of course I didn't. Don't be ridiculous." She busied herself in her work. It was a beautiful day, one of the first since winter, and most students, like her, were out enjoying the weather by studying in the courtyard in front of the lake. "Where did you hear such a thing?"

"Amanda," said Albus Potter.

Rose paused in her writing and looked up at him again. "What did she say to you?"

The whole school was buzzing about this mysterious student who had shown up in the Slytherin Common Room and then had quickly disappeared. There didn't appear to be any leads into who it could have been, though the Slytherins swore it wasn't a member from their house. Several had reported that Scorpius Malfoy had escorted the student from the room. But Malfoy's official report was that the student had ran ahead of him, apparently realizing he was a Prefect, and had escaped his sight after leaving the room.

"She came to me very distressed," Al explained. "She said she was afraid you had done something stupid and that you could be in trouble. I couldn't begin to image what she was talking about. She explained that you had gotten ill after dinner and that after she had escorted the Gryffindors back to the Common Room she went to check on you and make sure you were all right. When she couldn't find you, she preceded to check the bathroom on another floor. And then she thought maybe you had gone to the Hospital Wing."

Rose winced and hoped Al hadn't noticed. She had run into Amanda on her way back to the Gryffindor Common Room. Amanda had told Rose she'd been looking for her, but she hadn't specified she had checked for her in the Hospital Wing.

"When she found you on the way back to the Gryffindor Common Room," Al continued. "You told her you'd gone to the Hospital Wing, but we already established you weren't there." Al leaned down toward her. "Now are you going to tell me what happened, or are you going to make this Ravenclaw reason it out of you?"

"Don't even play the Ravenclaw card," said Rose, turning back to her notes. She didn't want to discuss it.

"How about the Intellectual Cousin card? Or the Official Family Mediator card?"

"Nope. Not even those."

They were silent for a few moments, and Rose actually started hoping he might leave her be.

"What are you doing, Rosie?"

"I'm doing my Transfiguration homework."

"You know what I mean."

She looked up at him again and saw genuine concern across his face. He was worried about her. As was Amanda.

Rose sighed. "It's just a stupid contest," she told him.

"What is?"

"Scorpius and I," she explained. "About who's better."

Al sighed. "Rose-"

"I said, it was stupid all right?" She turned away from him. "It started as just a simple conversation, and then it turned into a dare, and I wasn't thinking."

"I'll say you weren't. Did you think of what could have happened? Of the kind of trouble you could have gotten into?"

"Top of the class, remember?" she said, pointing herself. "Of course, I thought of the consequences! Do you want to know the number of hours I spent running them through my head?" She picked up her quill. "There's no rule that students can't be invited into the Common Rooms of other Houses, I looked it up."

"Do I need to point out to you that you weren't 'invited'?"

"No, Al. You don't."

Silence again. Rose couldn't concentrate on her notes, so she looked up at him.

"Why did you do it, Rosie?

She dreaded he would ask that question. She had been asking herself for the past two weeks why she was so determined to go along with it. And she still didn't have answer. "I don't know."

"Oh, come on, Rose."

"I don't know, all right!" she started gathering up her things. She wasn't getting any work done this way. "I wanted to show him."

"Show him what? That you were better than him?"

"No."

"Then what?"

She was on her feet now, her gaze level with her cousin's. "I just wanted to show him." She didn't understand it any further than that, and she didn't want Al to press her into trying to understand it.

Al grabbed her arm as she tried to leave. "I don't care who you hang out with, Rosie. You could befriend the whole of Slytherin House for all I care. I just don't want to see you get hurt."

She appreciated that. "What did you tell Mandy?"

"That she was overreacting and you would never do such a thing."

"And she believed you?"

"Of course."

"Thank you." She walked away.

"Don't expect me to cover for you next time!" Al shouted after her.

* * *

><p>Scorpius stood chatting with his friends by the large oak tree beside the lake. Classes were done for the day and it was too beautiful outside to begin studying. Thomas was the only one of the group sitting at the ground and scribbling away on some parchment after receiving a requested 24 hour extension on his Transfiguration essay.<p>

"Come on, Thomas. Take a break."

"Can't," he said, scribbling madly. "Have to finish."

"Didn't I help you with that last night?" asked Scorpius.

"Yes, but if you remember, we threw out all of my stuff and added all of yours, so now it sounds like you wrote it instead of me, and I got docked points the last few times I turned it in like that."

Scorpius leaned over him. "You do realize your O.W.L. scores are technically more important than your class scores? And I don't see you scrambling to study those."

"Well, then, this is good practice," Thomas insisted, but his quill slowed. "I mean, it's not like I'm wasting my time here. I just . . ." He sighed and put down his quill and parchment. "I hate you."

Scorpius chuckled. "You have plenty of time to finish it tonight. Just enjoy the weather for a bit." As he gave Thomas a slap on the shoulder, he noticed someone was staring at him.

It was boy with dark hair and glasses. Scorpius recognized him as a Ravenclaw. The boy was standing five feet from him and staring intently at him, waiting.

Scorpius didn't understand what was going on, but he left his friends and walked up to the boy, "Al Potter, right?"

The boy nodded. "Rose's cousin."

"Ah."

Al held out his hand. "I don't believe we have been properly introduced."

Scorpius shook it. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I want to know what your intentions are regarding my cousin."

"Excuse me?"

"Rose Weasley. What are your intentions?"

Scorpius had understood the question the first time and hadn't needed it rephrased. "I don't understand what you are referring-"

Al leaned closer to him so he could whisper, "breaking into the Slytherin Common Room."

Scorpius looked back at his friends. Then he quickly escorted Al further away from them. "She told you?" he asked once he was sure no one could overhear them.

Al shrugged one shoulder. "I got it out of her."

"Does anyone else know?"

Al shook his head. "Not that I know of."

Scorpius didn't know much about Al Potter or about his relationship with Rose beyond the biological. But he felt like he was being confronted by an angry protective older brother. "I promise," said Scorpius. "I was not trying to get her into trouble."

"What were you trying to do?" Al insisted.

Scorpius didn't have an answer. "It was just a stupid contest."

"That's what she told me, but apparently not only did both of you decide to go along with it, but also neither of you considered the potential consequences of this 'stupid contest.'"

Scorpius took a step closer to Al. "If anything happens, I will not let her take the blame for this alone. If I can, I will take full responsibility so she doesn't suffer for it.

Al's eyebrows raised. "You'd do that?"

"She's a . . . friend," said Scorpius. "I imagine I care about her as much as you do."

Al nodded in thought. "I hope that's true because I will hold you to it. If something happens and you don't come forward . . ." It was Al's turn to take a step toward Scorpius. "I assure you that as a Ravenclaw I know the best places to hide a body."

Then he turned and walked away, leaving Scorpius to wonder just how serious he was.


	4. The Gryffindor

All students were required to be in their respective common rooms after dinner to receive talks from their Heads of House. Rose stood in the back of the room as she and her fellow housemates listened to Professor Longbottom talk about how the Common Room is a place reserved for student privacy and, in some ways, safety. And how entering the Common Rooms of other Houses uninvited was a serious breach in those principles.

"It is my duty as Head of House," said Professor Longbottom, "to inform you that when the student who did this is discovered, they will be punished accordingly. I am also supposed to ask that if you have any information on this matter, you should come forward."

Professor Longbottom sighed. "Unofficially, I wish to say that if it was anyone from my House . . ." He smiled. "Well done."

Rose sighed in relief as her fellow housemates laughed and applauded. She imagined Professor Longbottom wouldn't have been in such good humor if the incident had occurred after curfew. So it wasn't as serious as she'd feared. If anyone realized it had been her, at least she didn't have to worry about being expelled. Detention and loss of House Points didn't sound like much fun either, but she'd take it compared with the alternative.

She began to worry about Scorpius, though. If this was the result from her getting into Slytherin, what would happen when he got into Gryffindor? It especially worried her that she'd asked him not to disguise himself. She could offer to call the whole thing off, but he seemed just as stubborn as she was. She doubted he'd accept.

She would just have to tell everyone that she had invited him. She could only imagine the reaction she would get, especially from Amanda. It didn't matter that Al had calmed her fears; they would all resurface if Amanda saw her hanging out with one of the Slytherins. Still, it was better than having Scorpius get into trouble.

Her friends were good to her. They didn't want to see her get hurt. She knew that once they got to know Scorpius and saw that he wasn't the stereotypical Slytherin, they'd warm up to him. Really, she had nothing to worry about. But, ashamed to admit it as she was, she still worried about what people might think.

* * *

><p>Over a week later, Rose was awoken by tapping at her dorm room window. She climbed out from her four-poster bed to find Scorpius' head bobbing outside the glass pane.<p>

She ran to open it. "What are you doing up here?" He was on his broomstick, dressed in his Quidditch robes.

"Can I come in?"

"What?"

"Can I come in?" he asked again.

She wanted to argue with him. Of course he couldn't come in! But he was dangling in mid air outside her window; this was no time to argue. She stood back and offered a hand to help him through the small opening. She was rather impressed he managed to do it, albeit awkwardly. "What are you doing here?" she asked when he finally had two feet planted firmly on the floor.

"Getting into Gryffindor Tower," he explained with a smile.

"N-no," she said. "I meant you had to be in the Gryffindor Common Room."

Scorpius raised a finger. "But you _said '_Gryffindor Tower,' and this is part of it, is it not?"

She had nothing to say to him. He was right, but she wasn't going to admit it.

"And, if you want me to prove my bravery by showing my face," he continued. "We could wake your roommates."

"No!" Rose hissed, grabbing his arm as he headed for Amanda's bed.

He gave her a look. "You really think I would?"

"I don't know you well enough to say."

It was an honest answer, but silence still fell between them. It was eventually broken by Mandy groaning as she turned in her bed.

"Out," said Rose, shooing Scorpius with a motion of her hand.

She watched as he just as awkwardly, if not more so, managed to climb out the window. Once he was secure on the broom, she grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Coming with you. This conversation isn't over yet, and I'm not finishing it in there."

He held onto the window as she situated herself on the broom and put her arms around him. She was surprised at how warm he was in the cool air. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Scorpius spent some time flying around. He told himself he was looking for a good spot to land, but, if he was honest with himself, he really just liked the feel of her arms around him.<p>

Eventually, he did find a low sloping roof to land on. They dismounted and Rose stood rubbing her arms in the darkness. The days were gradually getting warmer but the nights were still cold. Scorpius had worn his Quidditch robes to protect himself from the chill breeze while flying, but Rose was in her pajamas and had been completely unprotected.

"Here," he said, taking off his robes and handing them to her.

"Thanks." She put them on and wrapped them around herself.

They were a size too big for her. She was completely swallowed up in Slytherin in green. Scorpius smiled; it was a cute look.

She stared back at him, and he averted his eyes. "So," he swung his arms as he searched for a topic. "Who won?"

Rose sighed. "Neither of us, I guess. We both did what we said we'd do." She sighed again.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her.

She didn't answer right away. "Ever since I agreed to this bet, I've been asking myself why. Why did I agree to do it? And why, after all the worrying I did, did I refuse to back down?"

She sat on the roof shingles, wrapping the robes more tightly around her. "It's been so long, I'd almost forgotten. It was the first time I ever saw you, first year as we were getting on the Hogwarts Express from Platform 9 and 3/4."

Scorpius sat down next to her to be closer to her, and to his surprise she leaned against him.

"I saw you, and daddy said to me, 'make sure you beat him on every test, Rosie.' And I guess I took it to heart."

"That was it?" he asked, surprised.

She nodded. "I was eleven. I didn't think about it. I wanted to beat you because dad had asked me to."

He didn't have anything to say to that. It certainly wasn't an explanation he had been expecting. He was slightly disappointed she hadn't been pestering him all these years because she'd thought he was cute.

"All I've done is compete with you," she continued, apparently unbothered by his silence. "In class. In Quidditch. How do I even know who I am if all I've ever done with my life is what someone told me to do?"

"Now, come on," he said, placing a comforting arm around her. "That's not true."

She looked up at him. "Isn't it?"

"No. You didn't get to be top of your class just by competing with me. You excel at all your classes, including the ones I'm not in. And you do it because you care, because you want to succeed. If you had played Quidditch just to beat me, you have been Beater, not Chaser. You do it because it's fun and you want to." She was smiling at him, so he continued. "I know who you are, Rose, and you are not a push over. You are a very strong, intelligent, beautiful young woman."

She grasped the hand he had placed on her shoulder, and he felt his heart jump. "Scorpius," she said. "We're friends right?"

"Of course, we are."

"Really good friends?"

"Yeah."

She leaned in toward him, and he kissed her.

Apparently that wasn't what she had wanted or he had completely misread her body language because she pushed away from him. "Whoa!"

"I'm sorry!" he blurted, jumping back from her. "I thought you-"

"I didn't mean-"

"I'm sorry."

They were both on their feet now, the distance between them significantly increased.

"I'm sorry, Rose," he said more steadily. "I-I misunderstood."

She nodded.

Damn, he was an idiot. "I hope . . . I hope this doesn't change what you said."

"Of course, not." She shook her head. She had his robes wrapped tightly around herself, almost protectively, like she was afraid he might do something weird again.

"We can still be friends?"

"Of course."

"Good."

They stared awkwardly at each other for a few moments. Scorpius thought he could feel his ears reddening. How could he have been so stupid? She was looking for friendship from him, nothing more.

He turned around and picked up his broom. "Shall we?" The sooner he got this night behind him, the better.


	5. The Victory

"Are you all right?"

"Do I not look all right?" asked Rose.

"No, you look fine," Al admitted.

"Then why are you asking if I'm all right?"

Al leaned in close and lowered his voice. "Because Amanda swears there was a particular Slytherin in your dorm room last night and you fell asleep crying."

Rose slammed her fists down on her books, making the two people sitting at the library table across from her jump. "Mandy should learn to talk to me instead of going to you whenever she has a problem."

"Well, you haven't exactly been talking to her, so that doesn't help build up the trust much, does it?"

Rose spun around to face him. "What do you want?"

"Tell me what happened."

"Why do you care?"

"Because you're my cousin and because if he hurt you in any way it is my personal responsibility to separate his head from his body." Al was smiling, but Rose knew he was partly serious.

She turned back to her books. "He didn't hurt me."

"Then what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, then I'm gonna have to kill him."

Rose spun around again. She was sick of this. She was hurt and upset, and Al was poking fun. Mandy had gone behind her back again. And the one person she felt would understand was the same person she'd pushed away.

There must have been tears in her eyes because Al's face dropped. He knelt down beside her. "Rosie, tell me what happened."

The tears were falling freely in her lap now. "Just go away."

"Hey," He turned her face to him. "That's not happening."

She managed a smile. Al had always played the role of the big brother she'd never had. Though he was only a few months younger than her, he always seemed to surpass her and most of their family in wisdom. "Can we talk somewhere else?" The library was far too busy.

"Sure." He escorted her to a secret passageway behind a tapestry. Rose didn't ask how he knew it was there.

"So, why don't you tell me what happened?" he said.

Rose was silent for a minute. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk to Al about this. But she didn't have anyone else, and it wasn't like he was going to let her leave without explaining. "He kissed me."

Al nodded slowly. "I guess if Scorpius Malfoy kissed me, I'd cry too."

She punched him. It wasn't funny.

"Ow. Sorry." Al rubbed his arm. "Lay off on the sarcasm, got it."

They were silent for a few more moments. Rose had no desire to voluntarily continue the conversation.

"So," said Al. "I take it you like him back?"

Rose nodded. "Yes."

"Then what's the problem?"

"What's the problem!" Rose spun around to face her cousin. "For one, he's a Slytherin!"

"I'm sure," said Al. "That in Hogwarts' long history, although neither House may like to admit it, students from Gryffindor and Slytherin have hooked up at some point."

"He's a Malfoy," continued Rose.

"Well . . ." Al was slower on the uptake this time. "Someone's got to break that feud, don't you think?"

Rose turned away, scared to admit what was really bothering her.

"Rosie," said Al. "If he really cares for you as much as he seems to and as long as he treats you well, your friends will be supportive. And your family as well. There might be some initial resistance, but that's just because we want to make sure you'll be happy."

Rose's shoulders shook as she tried to fight back the thought that there was one person who wouldn't be happy with her decision.

"Rosie . . ." Al reached out to her and embraced her. "Tell me what's wrong."

Rose buried her face in his robes so much so that when she finally did answer he had to make her repeat herself. "Daddy will never forgive me."

Al laughed. Rose punched him again.

"Rose, your father loves you!" Al explained. "He's not going to disown you because you're dating a Malfoy!"

"You don't understand." How many times had she heard her father talk about his dislike of Scorpius' father? How many times had Gryffindor beat Slytherin at Quidditch and dad had expressed his congratulations in the form of praise over how well she had beat "that Malfoy boy"? How could she ever explain she was dating the son of the man her father hated?

"Rose," said Al. "Your father has a bit of a grudge with Malfoy Sr., and a lot of that trickles down to Scorpius, who he's never met. But he loves you and Hugo more than anything else in the world. He doesn't want you to be unhappy. And if he saw you crying right now, I can bet he'd find Scorpius and drag him over here to be with you."

Rose dried her eyes on her sleeve. "Maybe," she said, still unsure.

"Your dad is not going to let you be unhappy, Rose. And he's definitely not going to let himself be the cause of your unhappiness."

"But-"

"I'm not saying he's not going to protest." Al continued. "He probably will. And your mother might have to talk with him. But he'll come around, Rosie. And it won't take that long." Al put his hands on her shoulders so she was looking up at him. "If you want to be with Scorpius, then be with him."

Rose bit her lip. Al had a point, she knew he did. But still, she loved her father, and she couldn't stand the thought of him being angry or upset with her, even for a little while.

"And if you are still not sure, send your mother an owl so she can prepare your father in advance."

Rose smiled. Her father could be stubborn most of the time, but her mother could always bring him around. "Maybe I will."

Al hugged her. He'd grown so much these past few years that she fit perfectly under his chin. "Do you need anything else from me?"

"Na. Thanks, big brother."

He kissed her on top of the head. "Anytime, little sister."

* * *

><p>Rose entered her dorm room to find Mandy lying on her stomach on her four poster bed. A book sat at her elbows.<p>

Rose sighed. She wasn't looking forward to this talk. But if she was worried about people accepting her and Scorpius, Amanda was a good first person to try winning over. She walked over to her own bed and threw her shoulder bag on it. Then she walked to the edge of the bed and sat down, looking across at her roommate who hadn't looked up from her book. "Are you still mad at me?"

Mandy looked up. "Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because I haven't been talking to you about . . . me and Scorpius."

"Rose," Mandy closed her book and sat up. "I was worried about you. I wasn't mad at you."

"Are you mad at me now?"

She thought for a moment. "Maybe a little."

"I'm sorry," said Rose. "I really am."

Amanda nodded, the only form of acceptance Rose knew she would get. "So . . . what is going on with you and Scorpius?"

Rose shuffled her feet. "I'm not sure yet."

"Do you like him?"

"I-" Rose hesitated, still nervous about the topic and what Mandy would say. "Yes."

"Does he treat you well?"

"Yes."

"Why did he ask you to break into the Slytherin Common Room?"

Rose explained the story as best she could. She told Mandy everything, from the contest they had made, to their night on the roof. By the end of it, Amanda was smiling.

"Sounds like he really likes you," she said.

"And you're okay with that?" Rose hadn't expected Mandy to come around so quickly.

"I thought he was trying to get you in trouble," she explained. "Now I see it was all just intellectual flirting!"

Rose laughed. She wouldn't have put it that way, but Mandy had a point. Perhaps they had been just flirting with each other.

"So when are you going to ask him out?"

Rose was taken aback. "Me?"

"Yes, you," said Mandy, like it should have been obvious. "You turned him down. He thinks you don't like him. You've got to make the move, girl."

Rose knew she'd have to talk to Scorpius. But it hadn't completely hit her that Scorpius believed she had no interest in him. "Do you mind?" she asked Mandy as she stood to leave.

Mandy smiled and shook her head. "Go get him."

* * *

><p>Scorpius stood talking with his friends by the oak tree. He was trying to keep his mind off of Rose Weasley and the fact that she didn't share the feelings he had for her. He was also trying to stop thinking about the embarrassing moment when he'd kissed her.<p>

He wasn't having too much luck. His friends kept telling him he was acting unusually pensive, but he waved them off. He told him it was just the impending O.W.L.s that had him occupied. They seemed to buy it, but he wasn't sure.

And then, just as he was shaking the memory of last night from his mind, Rose came running toward him. He patted his pockets, searching for a graded assignment that didn't exist. He was so used to her greetings relating to a test that the reaction was automatic.

She came to a stop in front of him, as though realizing she also didn't have an assignment to show and now she didn't know what to do. He stared at her, and he thought she looked as unsure as he felt.

"I, uh," she said at last. "I'm sorry about last night." She took a step toward him and hesitated. "I . . . Uh . . ." She kissed him.

He was so taken aback that he didn't hear his friends' gasps and whistles. Eventually, it finally kicked in that she was in fact kissing him and it wasn't all an invention of his imagination. He slid his arms around her and kissed her back.

After a few moments, she pulled away from him, smiling, and slid her hand into his. She leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, "Beat you to the clock tower."

He smiled, "No, you won't." He had several questions, but they could wait. Right now, the race was on.

They ran off, still holding hands.

* * *

><p><strong>The sequel to this story is called, "A Father's Love," and explores the reaction of Rose and Scorpius' families to their relationship. You can find it on my profile.<strong>


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